K S Eshwarappa elected as Karnataka BJP chief

Bangalore: Karnataka Energy Minister K S
Eshwarappa, a backward class leader and staunch RSS activist,
was today unanimously elected the President of the state unit
of the ruling BJP.

BJP National General Secretary V K Goel, also in-charge
of party affairs in Karnataka, announced the election of
Eshwarappa, who was the only nomination filed for the post, at
a press conference here.

According to party sources, Eshwarappa is likely to give
up his ministerial post following his election as state unit
chief.

Eshwarappa has had uneasy relationship with Chief
Minister B S Yeddyurappa and had expressed reservations over
his son B Y Raghavendra`s nomination as the party`s candidate
in last year`s Lok Sabha elections, raising the issue of
dynastic politics.

A senior BJP leader, Eshwarappa belongs to the backward
Kuruba community, which form the third largest chunk of the
state`s population after Lingayats and Vokaligas.

The move to bring him back as the state unit chief, a
post he had held in 1993 and 1995, is seen as part of the
BJP`s strategy to counter opposition Congress leader in the
assembly Siddaramaiah, who also hails from the same community.

Eshwarappa, who will have a three-year term, succeeds
Sadananda Gowda, a Lok Sabha member, whose term as the state
unit chief ended last year.